Chris Benham, vice president of corporate marketing for the anti-spyware and e-mail security vendor, said that since Webroot launched a channel program for its Webroot Email Security SaaS (software as a service) and began aggressive partner recruitment drives in February 2008, an average 15 new partners signed up each month. 

Google's changes to Postini's e-mail security suite pricing structure announced in February have increased the number of partners interested in Webroot Email Security SaaS significantly, though Benham did not disclose specific numbers.

"We were aggressively recruiting partners already, and then the Google Postini announcement happened, and it made our recruitment that much easier," he said.  He added that one large VAR, who wished to remain anonymous, currently handles several thousand Google customers, and is quietly in talks with Webroot to move those customers to Webroot Email Security SaaS.